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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24581359">Phoenix Tail</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/art_of_a_diffrent_color/pseuds/art_of_a_diffrent_color'>art_of_a_diffrent_color</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bittersweet, Hair, Missing Scene, Some Humor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:20:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24581359</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/art_of_a_diffrent_color/pseuds/art_of_a_diffrent_color</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing scene between Iroh and Zuko before Zuko's date in Ba Sing Se.<br/>(Alternatively, what happened when Iroh did Zukos hair)<br/>---<br/>While he had known hiding in Ba Sing Se would come with challenges, the Prince had expected them to be along the lines of not being recognized, finding the Avatar, and having to deal with his Uncle flirting. Not…this.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>135</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Phoenix Tail</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have to give a shout out to @kitsunebattleboxer on Tumblr for at least half the inspiration of this fic. If it doesn't reek of angst and bittersweet heart ache, it was probably their idea.<br/>Now I have gone through this story three times, so there shouldn't be any spelling errors, but if there are please let me know so I can fix them.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Of all the insane things to have happened in his life, this was by far the craziest.</p><p>A date.</p><p>With a girl.</p><p>Who apparently wasn’t a spy, but had been hanging around the tea shop because she thought Zuko was cute? Well, not <em>Zuko</em>. Lee, but they have the same face so technically she did find Zuko cute, and -<em>argh</em></p><p>Sitting in front of his small mirror Zuko cut off that train of thought before it could devolve into a full-blown ramble.</p><p>While he had known hiding in Ba Sing Se would come with challenges, the Prince had expected them to be along the lines of <em>not being recognized, finding the Avatar, and having to deal with his Uncle flirting. </em>Not…this.</p><p>Head on the table, Zuko takes a deep breath and sits up. He had survived being banished, submerged in the icy waters of the north, and multiple attempts on his life. This would not be what defeats him.</p><p>Fifteen minutes later and Zuko was no closer to solving the issue of his hair.</p><p>When he had had to cut off his Phoenix Tail it had hurt almost like a physical blow. It was after all both a symbol of his pride and status as well as a connection to his culture and people that not even his father had been able to take from him. Zuko had never anticipated that he would miss it for its ease of maintenance.</p><p>Not to say that it had been <em>low</em> maintenance; it had required constant tending, needing a shave almost daily and a trim at least every two weeks to keep it from becoming too long.</p><p>True, his current hair was much shorter, but there was paradoxically more of it. At least the Phoenix Tail had been predictable, once it was up it could stay in place for days and didn’t require further attention.  But this shorter hair may as well have a mind of its own. It was easily mussed and refused to hold a style no matter how much product was applied, and on hot days it clung to his forehead and irritated the skin.</p><p>But even Zuko knew that his pride was no reason to make himself an easy target, and the Phoenix Tail was decidedly too Fire Nation to pass in the Earth Kingdom. Simply put, it had to go, leaving the frustrated Prince with this situation.</p><p>Uncle had offered to help, but Zuko, - still riding the wave of embarrassment caused by not recognizing he was being flirted with - had not been feeling overly charitable to the man who had accepted a date on his behalf. Even now, the epically stubborn part of him rebelled at the notion of getting help from his Uncle after such a public display of embarrassment, but one look at his unruly mop of hair (which had somehow only gotten worse) was enough for Zuko to quash his pride.</p><p>Sighing deeply (and Zuko was starting to understand why Mai did it so much) he stood up, comb in hand, and made his way to his Uncles room.</p><p>Iroh, it would seem had anticipated this.</p><p>When Zuko entered the room, he found his Uncle patiently sitting by the vanity, carefully not gloating, or saying I told you so. Zuko doesn’t even need to say anything, just silently hands his Uncle his comb and sits in the chair quietly fuming.</p><p>Judging by the way his Uncle tisks as he untangles the mess, Zuko’s hair was worse than the Prince had thought. Intellectually he knew his Uncle was being gentle, but every now and then the comb would catch on a snag, setting the price cursing under his breath about nosy old fools. Iroh, as usual, didn’t seem to pay the comments any notice except to quietly chuckle about sensitive heads. When not laughing at his nephews’ plight, Zuko was able to make out the faint sound of his Uncle humming, apparently content with his task. It was as the semi-sweet smell of the sculpting clay reached Zuko’s nose, a sure sign that his hair was now tangle free and ready for styling, that his Uncle spoke.</p><p>“You know,” Iroh’s voice cuts through the comfortable silence. For his part, Zuko suppresses a groan.  ‘You know’ being one of his Uncles favorite ways to launch into a lengthy story.</p><p>“You know,” Iroh repeats after a pause, “Your cousin needed help with his hair on his first date too.”</p><p>Zuko almost grinds out that this - whatever this is that he is about to do with a girl he barely knows - isn’t a date before the rest of the sentence registers.</p><p>“He was so nervous he couldn’t even hold the brush, and when he finally did, he managed to turn his hair into an elephant rats’ nest. It took almost an hour to fix it.”</p><p>While the hands in his hair never stop working, they do develop a tremble, and that more then anything is what draws Zuko’s eyes up to their reflection, only slightly surprised to see his Uncle looking back at him.</p><p>His expression is soft, softer than most would assume the Dragon of the West, the same man who laid siege for 600 days to Ba Sing Se, would be capable of. But it’s a look Zuko is deeply familiar with; tender and open, full of love and pride, rimmed with a bittersweet sadness that could be mistaken for nostalgia.</p><p>It says, “I’m here for you,” and “We can heal together” and “You are my son also” with a tender touch and the impact of a fist to the stomach.</p><p>Words catch in Zukos throat, unable to express the swirling tangle of emotions that has lodged itself between his mouth and heart. The silence stretches on, not uncomfortable, but heavy with emotions that defy labeling, abstract and painfully real all at once.</p><p>“The date was a disaster. Lu Ten accidentally set his dates dress on fire, but at least his hair was perfect. She gave him another try though.”</p><p>Minutes pass and nothing more is said, and Iroh turns his full attention back to the task before him, picking up humming the same song from earlier. The smell of the sculpting clay drifts through the air, pine and rose delicately perfuming the room. Zuko doesn’t take his eyes off his Uncle. He <em>can’t</em>, still trying to grip and wrangle the fathomless depths of his own emotions and put them into some recognizable order. Before he knows it, his Uncle is done, nodding to himself in satisfaction as he sets down the comb and catches Zuko watching him in the mirror.</p><p>Embarrassment floods through the Prince for a third time that night, only now for no discernable reason, but Iroh only smiles and places a wrinkled hand on his nephews’ shoulder. Its strong and grounding, and just like the look from earlier, it says volumes. Its only then that Zuko notices that he has been crying. Wiping away the moisture from his cheeks, the Prince smiles at his Uncle, matching the older firebenders expression without a second thought. Iroh gives his shoulder one last squeeze before removing his hand and begins to clean up the various hair supplies scattered on the table.</p><p>Standing, Zuko makes his way to the door before stopping and looks back at the man who has stuck by him through countless trials.</p><p>“Thank you for the help Uncle.”</p><p>Its inadequate and doesn’t begin to encapsulate everything he wants to say, doesn’t even begin to touch the tangle of emotions that have refused to move from his throat, and it frustrates Zuko that he doesn’t have the words for this. Iroh looks up from his place at the table, eyes suspiciously wet.</p><p>“You’re welcome nephew.”</p><p>Zuko’s frustration diminishes, because somehow (like always) Uncle understood. Able to read between the lines and see the heart of the matter even when Zuko could not. The urge to wrap the older man in a hug is strong, but the Prince wills himself to walk away, after all he still has to figure out what to wear.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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